NEWSReport No. MM-858 MASS MEDIA ACTION November 3, 1994
FCC RESPONDS TO COURT JUDGMENT IN LELAND, NC, FM PROCEEDING
In response to a Judgment of a federal appellate court, the Commission has explained
its reasons for dismissing and returning as unacceptable for filing the application of Leland
Broadcasting Group, Inc., for a new FM station at Leland, NC.
The Judgment was entered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit.
The Commission had dismissed Leland's application under the "hard look" processing
standards, which required that such applications be letter perfect when filed. The application
was deficient because it lacked a transmitter site map in the required form.
Leland sought judicial relief, contending that despite the omission of the proper site
map, the Commission could have determined the proposed transmitter location from other
information in its application. Thus argued Leland, the application should not have been
returned.
The court ordered the Commission to explain why the transmitter location could not
have been verified using information in Leland's application.
The Commission explained that Leland's proposed site could, in fact, be verified
using information in the application. However, because Leland omitted the required
information which allows the staff to verify both expeditiously and accurately the coordinates
of its site, the staff properly dismissed the application as not sufficiently complete. The
Commission noted that if the staff, as a matter of policy, were required to follow a complex,
multi-step process, such as proposed by Leland, to deduce the information, reliability would
be diminished and the processing burden, as well as the burden on other interested parties,
would be significantly increased.
Action by the Commission October 28, 1994, by Memorandum Opinion and Order
(FCC 94-278). Chairman Hundt, Commissioners Quello, Barrett, Ness and Chong.
- FCC -
News Media contact: Rosemary Kimball at (202) 418-0500.
Mass Media Bureau contact: Joel Rosenburg at (202) 632-3954.